(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to a container for accommodating a mass of cake such as icecream or margarine. More particularly, the present invention relates to a size-reducible container whose size can be reduced stepwise easily as the mass of cake contained therein reduces its volume in accordance with its progressive stepwise consumption or dispensing by the user, so that unnecessary space for the storage of the container is eliminated accordingly for the convenience of storage in a place like the interior of a refrigerator.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
Icecream packages or containers designed for household use are, in general, provided in either cup style, cylindrical style or box style of about 500 ml to 1,000 ml in volume. These known containers are such that, after a required amount of the contents such as icecream is consumed, the remaining portion of icecream now having a reduced volume is left in the container to be kept in, for example, a refrigerator. Thus, the remaining portion of icecream, in fact, occupies only a part of the volume of the container. However, since the container as a whole is stored in the refrigerator, there is the inconvenience that an unnecessary section of the container, i.e. that portion thereof which is not filled with the contents, has to be placed in the refrigerator for storage purposes. In this sense, especially a cup-style container of a frusto-conical shape has the inconvenience that the space-utility in a storage area is poor because of its configuration. These inconveniences of the known containers are encountered not only in the storage of such known containers in, for example, refrigerators, but also in case of display of similar articles on the shelves of a food store.
On the other hand, there has been developed and placed on the market a foodstuff container having a full-deep tear-strip scored lines formed on the surfaces of the container so that those portions of the container which have become empty due to consumption of the contents are torn and removed, to keep the container now having a reduced size in a storage space. In case, however, containers having a scored lines are used for the purpose of storage of such food as icecream or margarine, there would occur a mishap that the icecream contained in the container exudes to the outside of the container through the scored lines. Furthermore, such known container having scored lines is again not desirable from the aspects of appearance, hygiene, and mechanical strength of the container itself.